Tuesday, July 29, 2008

a lousy night shift

the day started off quite alright, before work.

i know i shouldn't take my temper to those who are not in the situation. But somehow people will approach me at the wrong moment - text messages when i put helpdesk as my msn location, FREAKING busy as my status message. Do i need to be so explicit to say don't message me? I'm sorry if i hurt anyone, but a little sensitivity on your side goes a long way.

anyway, why i'm so upset. I had to cover my colleague's work (close 9 more labs), but it's alright, just a little more stress towards the end. He had an emergency to attend to. But another incident happened much earlier, at the particular period where night classes start. Around 6.30 to 7.00pm. When classes start, it means 2 things. Either no sos request, or if there is an sos request the problem must be quite severe.

let me announce my actors/actresses.

- VIP: the biggest honcho in the school- M: my indirect honcho- L: one lecturer- S1 and S2: 2 students

L had a problem - his instructor workstation crashed. So of course, this means he couldn't load his slides, etc. In my mind, i probably had to do a swap. A student in his class wanted me to do a repair installation with the windows disc. Realistically, that idea was impossible. Maybe that student was thinking of repairing his home computer. Anyway, i did the necessary using my judgement.

just oh so nice, another sos rang. It was M, she told me to help S1 and S2 open a protected access door. Since my priority was on L, i told her i'll be down in 5 minutes.

in about 5 minutes, L's problem was solved. M rang again - this time she said VIP was waiting for me with the students. Now i knew why she called again; someone was impatient.

when i went down, i saw VIP. He was quite cool about it, asking me to escort S1 and S2 into their room to retrieve some files. So i did. I observed the surroundings - 2 development staff peering over to see the 'show', some students i know looking in my direction, as though something big happened. I told S1 and S2 that they were so lucky (yeah).

after VIP plus S1 and S2 left, i asked YH. He said VIP appeared to be upset, raising his voice on the phone, thus attracting the attention of everyone in the area.

the problem now is - i don't see why he should be upset. There is only one support staff present in the whole building after 5.00pm. Maybe he wasn't aware i had to attend to a poor lecturer who couldn't start his class on time, but he could have been more understanding. Assuming my assumptions are right, why must he raise his voice at M?

even military commanders are turning away from such authoritarian styles. My former superior, a Brigadier General, closes his door to reprimand his subordinate. The latter is 43 years old, educated overseas and commanded the respect of his entire division, from his Chief of Staff to ground troops, even if he doesn't raise his voice. So why can't VIP be another respected boss?

he has spoilt M's night and mine. Is it worth my effort to serve my alma mater this well, given such an environment? This is an ethical question, but as far as work is concerned i believe in being professional. So far i am, thus i'm not afraid of posting this up.